1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that permits data entry using a pointing device, such as a mouse, under a GUI (Graphical User Interface) environment, and in particular to an information processing apparatus that can adjust the scrolling speed for data displayed in a work window of a display. More specifically, the present invention pertains to an information processing apparatus that can adjust the scrolling speed for data displayed in a work window using a pointing device, and that can visually provide a scrolling speed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In accordance with recent technological developments, various types of personal computers (PCS), such as desktops, towers and notebooks, are being produced and marketed. Because of the enhancement of the processing capabilities of CPUs (Central Processing Units) and the improvement of video sub-systems, it has become common for current PCS to include a bit map display function, i.e., a function for the drawing of individual pixels on a display. In such a hardware environment, the operating system (OS) usually can support a bit mapped display and can provide multiple windows.
The latest OSs, such as "OS/2" from IBM Corp. ("OS/2" is a trademark of IBM Corp.) and "Windows95" from Microsoft Corp.(Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corp.), have graphical user interfaces (GUIs). A computer system that provides a GUI environment generally permits the installation of an input device (pointing device), such as a mouse, a track ball, a touch pad, a TrackPoint or a joystick, that can be used to designate coordinates. With the pointing device, a user can operate a computer system as though he or she were issuing instructions directly to the screen.
A pointing device has two basic functions: one is the two-dimensional moving of a cursor (mouse cursor) on a display screen, and the other is a clicking function used for one type of selection operation. The user can move a mouse cursor to a specific location (to an object) on a display screen, and then clicks on an object at that location to select its associated function.
Present on a display screen under a GUI environment, i.e., on a "desktop," are many object symbols, such as icons and folders. A user can move a cursor on the desktop to a desired icon or folder by using a pointing device, such as a mouse, and can select an object symbol at the current location of the cursor by depressing (clicking) a mouse button. When, for example, an icon associated with a specific application is selected, the application is activated. Or when a folder is selected, it is opened on the desktop. Further, when a cursor is moved from a specific object symbol to another while the mouse button is held down, and the mouse button is thereafter released, i.e., when a "drag and drop" operation is performed, the moving/copying or erasure of the object symbol can be performed. In other words, under a GUI environment, a user can easily and directly enter his or her desired data merely by intuitively operating the mouse cursor while watching the screen. That is, since the user can perform almost all computer operations merely by manipulating the mouse, he or she is required neither to remember many OS commands nor to study the operation of a keyboard, as is required when using a conventional CUI (Character User Interface) environment.
Generally, only a part of a target file (a document or an image) appears in an application window displayed on the desktop due to the size of the document or image relative to the window. With regard to long word processing documents, for example, only one part of the document text appears in the window. The operation by which data within the corresponding window is moved vertically or horizontally, i.e., the scrolling operation, is conventionally performed in response to a depression or the continuing depression of one of the cursor keys on a keyboard that instructs a desired displacement.
Under a windowing environment, the data displayed within a window can be scrolled by manipulating a scroll bar. Ordinarily, scroll bars for the horizontal and vertical directions are prepared along the lower edge and the right edge of a window. A right scroll button or a left scroll button at either end of the horizontal scroll bar, or an upper scroll button or a lower scroll button at either end of the vertical scroll bar is selected by clicking on it with a mouse button. As is well known in the art, this causes data in the window to be scrolled in a desired direction.
The latest pointing device, "IntelliMouse" from Microsoft Corp., employs another form to provide a screen scroll operation. The structure and the function of the IntelliMouse will now be briefly explained. FIG. 8 shows the external appearance of the IntelliMouse. To attain the ease with which the IntelliMouse can be held, the body 150 of the IntelliMouse is formed substantially in a J shape, and a rotary ball 152 is provided on the bottom surface of the body 150.
One of the features of the IntelliMouse is the provision of a rotary switch 154, called a "wheel," that can be both rotated and depressed, and that is disposed between two conventional mouse buttons. The wheel 154 can be rotated forward or backward, each one step rotary displacement of the wheel being the equivalent of one click, and 18 steps constituting a complete revolution. A third mouse button (a middle button) can be emulated by depressing the wheel. Further, besides the independent employment available with the wheel, the combined use of the wheel and the "Ctrl" key or the "Shift" key on the keyboard can provide many additional functions. It should be noted, however, that special application software is required in order to make the wheel functions available, and that the wheel functions provided by the application software are slightly different. When application software is used that is not compatible with the use of the wheel, messages generated by the manipulation of the wheel are disregarded, and the IntelliMouse functions substantially the same as does a normal "two-button mouse."
Merely by rotating the wheel of the IntelliMouse forward or backward, it is possible to scroll a document on a screen (a one step rotary displacement of the wheel corresponds to the scrolling of three lines). Since unlike in the conventional case, it is not necessary for the mouse cursor to be moved to the scrolling bar at the window's circumferential edge, a user can easily scroll the screen without removing his or her eyes from the document/content of the window.
When the mouse is moved while the wheel is being depressed like a button and held, the document can be sequentially scrolled at a desired speed and in a desired direction. This function is called "panning" or "sequential scrolling," and when the wheel is released, the scrolling operation is terminated. Since the document is sequentially scrolled without the user removing his or her eyes from the document, a desired portion can be easily found.
Further, when the wheel is clicked once and the mouse is moved, the document is automatically scrolled. This function is called "auto scrolling" or the "reading mode."
The scrolling speed for the "panning" or the "auto scrolling" is proportional to the displacement of the mouse ball. The "scrolling speed" in this case is essentially equivalent to the total volume traveled when scrolling performed in accordance with a single scrolling instruction, the operation involving the clicking the wheel and the movement of the mouse. Since the cursor is moved the instructed total scroll volume at one time, displayed data seem to be scrolled rapidly in proportion to the total scrolling volume, so that the user assumes that the scrolling volume is equivalent to the scrolling speed.
Another specific function of the IntelliMouse is a "zoom" function by which the display of the document is enlarged/reduced. Further, a "data zoom" function is provided by which data is folded and hidden or folded data are reopened and displayed. Software products of Microsoft Corp., such as "Word97," "Excel97" and "InternetExplorer 3.0," support the above unique functions of the IntelliMouse. The IntelliMouse can be connected, for example, to the serial port of a PC, or to a PS/2 mouse port ("PS/2" is a trademark of IBM Corp.) of an IBM PC/AT compatible machine ("PC/AT" is a trademark of IBM Corp.).
The Trackpoint is a small lever input device embedded in about the center of a keyboard unit (i.e., centered relative to the "G", "H", "B" and "N" keys). A position corresponding to the operating point of the lever is enclosed in four directions by pressure sensors. When a user presses against the distal end (force point) of the stick with a finger, the pressure direction and force are detected by the individual sensors, and a signal equivalent to the displacement of the mouse ball is generated in accordance with the outputs of the sensors. Since one feature of the Trackpoint is that only a small mounting/operating area is required, the Trackpoint is used as a pointing device mainly for notebook PCS. Since a user can manipulate the TrackPoint without removing his or her hands from their home positions on the keyboard, it is especially convenient for the execution of software that requires keyboard input. The details for the Trackpoint are given in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,596 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,033.
As is described above, when the IntelliMouse is employed, the "panning" function and the "auto scrolling" function permit data displayed in the application window to be scrolled merely by the employment of a simple manipulatory movement. In addition, the scrolling speed can be freely changed by moving the mouse in a desired direction while the wheel is depressed and held. These functions can be provided by using the IntelliMouse, which includes a "wheel," in a software environment that supports the wheel function.
When the scrolling speed for display data is variable, several problems arise. One of them is the occurrence of an event where, since the definition of a standard scrolling speed (or the definition of the total volume over which scrolling is to be executed in response to one scrolling instruction) differs for each user, the display data are scrolled a distance more than or less than that expected by a user, even though the same scrolling operation is performed.
It can be easily understood that, to resolve this problem, all that is needed is some method by which the current scrolling speed can be indicated. However, if a scrolling speed indicator, such as an LED, was additionally provided, the hardware would have to be changed and, accordingly, the application range would be limited. And since the LED indicator would be located outside the display screen, a user would have to take his or her eyes off the displayed data that are being processed in order to see the indicator, and this would be accompanied by deterioration of job continuity.
For the previously described IntelliMouse, the display of the mouse cursor is switched during the screen scrolling to visually provide the current scrolling speed. FIG. 9 shows a bitmap of the mouse cursor during the screen scrolling. In response to the depression of the wheel (or the middle button), the cursor is changed to the bitmap shown in FIG. 9(a), which indicates that screen scrolling is occurring. The mouse cursor comprises a circular cursor body located in the center, and four scrolling direction indicators, one located at each side of the cursor body and enclosing the cursor body. The individual indicators are shaped like isosceles triangles, and their vertexes indicate their respective scrolling directions. When a user moves the mouse in a desired scrolling direction, the original mouse cursor is changed and becomes semi-transparent, as is shown in FIG. 9(b), and only the scrolling direction indicator that corresponds to the desired/selected scrolling direction is displayed at a position apart from the rest of the cursor. The mouse cursor in FIG. 9(b) is an example in which downward or lower scrolling is performed. The interval (D) between the semi-transparent, original mouse cursor and the scrolling direction indicator that is displayed is proportional to the scrolling speed currently set (or the total distance to be traveled in response to one scrolling instruction).
In the mouse cursor display shown in FIG. 9, since the volume or interval which the scrolling direction indicator is separated from the original mouse cursor is proportional to the scrolling speed, a user can visually and intuitively comprehend an alteration in the scrolling speed. However, since there is no scale provided on the display screen that can be used to measure the interval between the mouse cursor and the indicator, a user will view the representation of the scrolling speed as only the "separation" of the indicator or the "approach" of the indicator. In other words, it is still difficult to instantly and quantitatively comprehend the scrolling speed.
An information processing apparatus that can change a scrolling speed to a desired speed is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. Hei 8-166783. However, in this information processing apparatus, the change in the scrolling speed is performed in a scrolling speed control window (see FIG. 3 in the publication) that is displayed in a screen area separate from the window being processed. Therefore, a user is forced to take his or her eyes off the display data, and deterioration of job continuity occurs.